My husband's vehicle is a zxw. He has zero talent OR patience when it comes to auto repairs of any magnitude. Fortunately my stepfather is willing and very capable when it comes to most mid-level repairs on anything made after 1967. I have listed out the events as they occurred below. My question is how feasible is it for two grown men, one of which has extensive knowledge for auto mechanics, to replace the oil pan on our "silver fox" wagon?

10months Ago: Husband takes zxw for an oil change. Upon returning he is notified that when they tried to drain the oil pan, the threading fell out of the plug on the pan. They chose to replace said plug with one that was slightly larger. The larger plug has been in place for 10 months! There have been no oil changes since then and no leaking of any kind. Husbands checks oil regularly and replaces when needed.

5months Ago: Husband takes zxw to Ford dealership and tells them about his procrastination / dilemma. Dealership quotes between $500 to $600 and says the entire oil pan will need to be dropped out and replaced. Dealership explains that this can ONLY be done by tilting/raising the engine as there are "one or two oddly placed bolts" that prevent the pan from releasing. Husband decides he can't afford this, gives up, comes home and says nothing more to wife.

Today at 5pm: Husband decides he should revisit this issue & explains to unsuspecting wife that they will have to make room in their teeny-tiny budget for said oil pan to
finally be replaced!

Today at 7pm: Wife decides she's fixed the washer transmission, replaced headlights & blinker switches & rewired a squirrel cage fan before....how hard can this be to DIY with help from her stepfather??? There's a tutorial for everything these days, right?

That's where we stop. Is this realistic to DIY without having to lift/tilt the engine? What advice can you give us? Tips we should know before beginning? Level of difficulty on a scale of 1-5 (5 being the hardest thing you could possibly take on as an ameture)?

Looks like you signed up with the correct info. for the car, an '05 should be the duratec engine that has the exh. at the rear making this easier. You can double check that in the "what engine" stickie above.

MIGHT not even need to change the pan depending on what they used for a larger plug & how installed, the aluminum pan can take a larger one since you are not dealing with a nut welded inside a steel pan that broke loose.

I did my duratec 2.3 without trouble removing just the pan (not for replacement actually). The only tough part on that was getting the dipstick tube loose from the dirt/corrosion above it's O-Ring seal.

Odd position bolts at the ends were all accessible, just needed to make sure all were loosened to remove the pan.

You'll cuss while under there but done you'll think it was the easiest $500 you ever made. I did mine in one hour, I'll never get paid that much per hour ever.

Pan may or may not have a gasket, if glued on only then paramount to make sure the sealing flats there are BONE DRY, which can be a problem with all the oil dripping there. Even if glued only sometimes the aftermarket may supply an old school type gasket like parts store, if they can get them use them. Better.

Thanks everyone for your very helpful advice and encouragement. We're going to get our parts & tools collected and try it next weekend!

By the way... Husband may not be good at car stuff, but he sure knows how to make up for it by mowing the lawn, cleaning the gutters, helping with laundry, scrubbing the toilet, and smoking the best rack ribs in the Midwest! Lol! Said wife will spend this weekend relaxing with a glass of wine! ;)

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